- Design of game: Games are designed such that they are not intended to complete in one session. Within the games, there are sub-plots and mini-games.
- Players are motivated to complete the levels of games, and each level is achieved with increasing difficulty.
- Games have excitin and elaborate plots that evolve over time.
- Some games are on-going, played by gamers all over the world in real-time.
- Players who stop playing may be beaten by their opponents and will lost out to those who continue playing.
- Players who want to stop cannot stop do so immediately as they must complete certain tasks before they stop. Otherwise, they may ended up at a disadvantage when they next continue.
- Many players play as a team. The decision to stop playing depends on all members of the team as well as members of other teams.
"At risk" players are more likely to be younger ones who play violent fantasy games for more than 2 hours a day (Jeanne Funk, 2002). On the other hand, A person may be playing for long hours, but need not be addicted if he/she is able to carry on their daily functioning.
Some symptoms of game addiction
- having trouble with school attendance and encountering dificulty in coping with school work
- social isolation and depression - avoid family, friends and social functions, preferring online contacts. They tend to find their virtual world more exciting than real life. Hence, they prefer to reduce family and social contacts
- sitting at the computer terminal and typing on the keyboard for long hours may result in physiological problems such as neck and back aches, or carpal tunnel syndrome
- suffering sleep disturbaces and /or eating problems
- feeling good only when playing games
- neglecting personal hygiene
- getting restless and irritable when they can't play the games.
Source: What do I say to My Net-Savvy Kids? (Digital Games)